"Raymond’s eye for telling detail is very fine, as one expects of an accomplished writer, but to this she adds the informing eye of a natural historian of place.”— John Keeble, author of Nocturnal America

It’s been too long since I’ve offered Quickies, which of course means you have no excuse not to write this week. “Quickies” are prompts that can be done in five minutes or fewer, though of course you can also take your time and write for as long as you wish. Enjoy!

Write for one minute about each of the following: kale, volcano, ferret, lamp, ocean.

It’s President’s Day, one of those holidays that we don’t often think much about, except perhaps to rejoice if we get a day off work, or to be annoyed if we find the bank or post office closed when we really need them.

But, let’s celebrate it this year with a fun writing prompt. Write about five things you would do/change if you were president of your home country.

By now, you probably are familiar with the community art project Post Secret … and do you know new secrets are still posted each Sunday? They make great writing prompts. Visit the page and bookmark it for a time you need some inspiration.

Next, write about a secret you’ve never told anyone. (Maybe you’ll even want to send it in to Post Secret.)

It’s Groundhog Day … which of course means some little creature will supposedly tell us how many more weeks of winter we must endure. It was also a hilarious 1990s film about a snarky guy who had to relive the same day over and over and over…

The other day my husband said to me, “Your extra memory should be here next week.”

It took me a long moment to realize he was talking about the additional memory he’d ordered for my computer, which had been very slow; apparently you can just buy more memory if you run low. (For your computer, that is.)

But I did, for a moment, love the idea of having extra memory, or more space for memories, in my brain rather than just on my computer.

Write about a time you wish you could remember, or remember more vividly.

Write about your relationship to the dark: Do you like it or fear it? Where did this attitude come from? Write about your earliest memory of darkness, and then write about a more recent one. How do these two memories compare?

One year, when I was heading from the east coast to Southern California during the winter, I decided to try a self-tanner I’d discovered in my bathroom cupboard. Instead of giving me a healthy, sun-kissed glow, it turned my entire body the bright orange of a clementine.

Write about a time you used a product that achieved quite the opposite effect you were hoping for.

With a new year around the corner, write about what you’ve learned over the past year. What do you know today that you didn’t know a year ago — about yourself, about someone in your family, about an issue in the world? Next, write about something you hope to learn more about in the year ahead.

Write about your first set of wheels. This could be the first car you ever bought, your tricycle, roller skates, or a skateboard. Write a scene about a particularly memorable occasion when you used your first set of wheels. Describe everything, from setting to others in the scene to the weather.

Write about shopping. Is shopping for yourself fun, or a chore? What about shopping for your family, or for holiday gifts? Think of your first memory of shopping, and how this relates to your current views on this activity.

It wasn’t until I moved to Oregon and saw mistletoe growing in the wild that I realized that mistletoe, that most romantic of plants, is actually a parasite. It grows in clumps on tree branches, drawing nutrients from the host plant, and it can actually cause damage. Who knew?

Write about mistletoe. From your earliest experience of it to what you know and feel about it now, include as much detail as you can.

With all the focus on food and holiday shopping, we often forget that Thanksgiving is the season of gratitude. Each day this week, write down three things you’re grateful for, whatever these may be.

Next, write a scene about a Thanksgiving meal. This could be a scene starring the character in your novel, a poem about the Thanksgiving you spent in a train station in Guangzhou, or an essay about a childhood Thanksgiving that was particularly memorable.